Idaho Murders: How Bryan Kohberger’s Mom & Sister Reacted in Court

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Bryan Kohberger‘s family is coping with a difficult reality. 

On July 23, Maryann Kohberger, the mother of the convicted criminology student, and Amanda Kohberger, his sister, attended court proceedings. During this session, the defendant was given four consecutive life sentences for the 2022 murders of four college students: Kaylee Goncalves (age 21), Madison Mogen (also 21), Xana Kernodle (20), and Ethan Chapin (20).

During the court hearing, some of the women displayed strong emotions, including moments where Maryann appeared to shudder and even covered her face by placing her head in her hands at certain points. This was observed and reported by The New York Times, who had a journalist present in the courtroom.

Despite being escorted out of the room after his sentencing, Bryan initially disregarded his family, as reported by the source. However, during a court recess, he momentarily addressed their presence, offering a smile and nod towards his mother in the audience, as the New York Times documented.

Additionally, Maryann and Amanda were acknowledged by someone else in the room as the court proceedings ended.

When Kim Cheeley, grandma of Madison, stepped up to address Kohberger about his heinous acts, she pondered over the profound effects that his crimes had on the families of his victims as well as himself.

In her court statement, she expressed sympathy towards the children’s roommates, the families of the other victims, and even the family of the offender.

At the start of this month, Bryan confessed to murdering the four university students, acknowledging that his actions were deliberate and premeditated. Yet, the student from the University of Idaho failed to offer an explanation for why he carried out these crimes, leaving his motive unexplained.

After admitting to the charges, as part of an arrangement that spared him from receiving a death penalty, his relatives publicly appealed to the media for “understanding, dignity, and thoughtful decision-making while these events unfold.

The family has chosen to remain silent throughout the ongoing legal proceedings, and kindly requests privacy during this challenging period for everyone involved.” (This version maintains the original meaning but simplifies the language and structure.)

Read on for more on and the Idaho murders…

21-year-old Kaylee Goncalves, along with Madison Mogen (also 21), Xana Kernodle (age 20), and her boyfriend Ethan Chapin (also 20) were university students residing in an apartment off the campus premises.

On November 12, 2022, the night before their discovery, Goncalves and Mogen visited a sports bar nearby, while Kernodle and Chapin attended a fraternity party. By 2 a.m. on November 13, all four roommates and Chapin returned to their three-story rental house.

Goncalves, who was studying general subjects at the College of Arts and Humanities, was close to graduating in December. Afterward, she planned to move to Austin, Texas, to start a job at a marketing firm, according to her friend Jordyn Quesnell.

Mogen, a marketing student, has been close friends with Goncalves since the sixth grade. According to family friend Jessie Frost, she intends to relocate to Boise following graduation. This information was made public in The Idaho Statesman.

At that moment, Kernodle was a junior student specializing in marketing, as stated. She and Chapin, who studied recreation, sport, and tourism management, had been dating since the spring, according to their neighbor, Ellie McKnight, as reported to NBC News.

Two residents, Dylan Mortensen and Bethany Funke, were at home when the murders occurred. Text messages made public on March 6, 2025 reveal that Mortensen and Funke attempted to reach their fellow roommates after Mortensen spotted a masked individual moving around in their house on November 13th, as detailed in documents obtained by TopMob News.

“No one is answering,” Mortensen texted Funke at 4:22 a.m. “I’m rlly confused rn.”

She persistently contacted their housemates, asking them to get back to her. At 4:32 a.m., she messaged Goncalves saying, “Please reply,” and again at 10:23 a.m., “Are you awake?

11:58 a.m. saw a 911 call being made, as reported by TopMob News following the acquisition of extra information. In the transcript, a woman identified as A1 detailed the then-ongoing circumstances to the operator, as she found Kernodle unconscious.

She mentioned over the phone, “One of the roommates is unconscious due to being extremely intoxicated last night and hasn’t regained consciousness yet.” Additionally, they reported spotting a stranger in their home last night.

Bryan Kohberger, the individual facing charges for four counts of first-degree murder and one count of burglary, was pursuing a doctoral degree at Washington State University. Approximately a month after the discovery of the bodies belonging to Gonclaves, Mogen, Kernodle, and Chapin, Kohberger was apprehended on December 30 in Monroe County, Pennsylvania. He was transported to Idaho on January 4, 2023.

It was through DNA evidence found on a knife sheath abandoned at the crime scene that the authorities linked him to the murders, as reported in court documents from June 2023 by NBC News.

When the DNA didn’t correspond with anyone in the FBI database, the authorities cross-referenced it against public ancestry websites to generate a pool of possible suspects, as stated in the documents. Upon discovering that Kohberger had visited his parents’ home in Monroe County, local officials subsequently examined their trash and discovered DNA that linked him to the DNA found on the sheath.

Currently, the specific reason behind the attack remains undisclosed due to a court order that restricts those connected with the case from making public statements. Nonetheless, some information about their initial lines of defense can be inferred from the unveiled court papers. (NBC News reported this.)

Lawyers for Kohberger made a request, as reported by TopMob News, to dismiss the possibility of capital punishment. This is because, if found guilty on all charges, Kohberger could have faced execution. However, they stated that Kohberger has Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), and imposing the death penalty on him would go against the Eighth Amendment’s rule against “cruel and unusual punishment.

His defense stated that Kohbereger’s thought process is very inflexible, he tends to focus excessively on certain subjects, handles information in bits and pieces, finds it challenging to think ahead, and shows limited understanding of his actions and feelings.

Because of his Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Mr. Kohberger consistently struggles to conform to typical social norms, which presents a profound injustice as it may lead to his execution based on his disability instead of his actions.

To start with, Judge Kohberger’s plea of not guilty was entered for him on the murder charges in May 2023, as he chose not to speak during the arraignment. Despite his trial being scheduled for October 2, 2023, Kohberger opted to relinquish his right to a prompt trial in August 2023.

The start of his trial, initially planned for Ada County over 300 miles away from Latah County where the murders occurred, is now scheduled for August 11, 2025.

Earlier, Judge John Judge from Latah County granted a motion filed by Kohberger’s legal team in September 2024, stating that moving the trial to another county would be necessary due to a presumed bias among local residents if it had stayed in Latah County.

In a recent ruling, Judge Steven Hippler of Ada County refused the defense’s plea to exclude crucial DNA and additional evidence such as cell phone and email records, security camera footage, past online shopping history from Amazon, and DNA proof during the upcoming trial.

The trial for Kohberger’s murder case was unexpectedly halted on June 30, 2025, as he opted for a plea bargain from the prosecution. By accepting this agreement, Kohberger consented to admit guilt across four counts of murder and one count of burglary, relinquish his right to appeal, and request a less severe prison term.

On July 2, 2025, he admitted his guilt in court, answering affirmatively when the judge inquired whether he had intentionally, illegally, deliberately, and with premeditation and malice killed all four of the victims.

On March 2025, a selfie taken by Kohberger the day after the murders was presented. In this picture, he is shown with a thumbs up in front of a shower, which aligns with the description given by a witness referred to as “D.M.” in court documents. This individual stated that the suspect had thick eyebrows.

Steve Gonclaves, Kaylee’s father, subsequently commented on the photo, describing it as a “trophy,” during an interview on Fox and Friends.

As a die-hard enthusiast, let me share my insights: I’ve got the sequence of events down pat, and here’s what unfolded – I was there when he stepped foot again at the crime scene. It struck him then, in that very moment, that no one had dialled 911 yet.

For him, that’s his small token of victory, a reminder saying ‘I managed to escape unnoticed.’

In a 2025 Dateline documentary on the murders, a former colleague of Kohberger’s discussed an “odd” message she got from him following their encounter at a party.

Holly clarified that she felt somewhat compelled to converse with him, as he appeared slightly uneasy. This reminded her of a typical PhD student who was new to the gathering, possibly making an effort to socialize and forge friendships.

The following day, Holly said she received a text from him, which she described as overly formal. 

Hey there, it seems we discussed hiking trips yesterday according to the records,” Bryan’s message from July 10, 2022 at 1:19 p.m., stated as reported by Dateline. “I really enjoy that pastime, so do share more details if you have them. Thanks!

In another part of the Dateline documentary, it was discovered that Kohberger’s internet history contained searches for Ted Bundy, Britney Spears’ song “Criminal”, and the phrase “University of Idaho Murders”.

At a court hearing on July 2, 2025, Kohberger admitted guilt for the murders of Goncalves, Mogen, Kernodle, and Chapin as well as one charge of burglary, after previously agreeing to a plea deal that would avoid the death penalty.

When Judge Hippler asked Kohberger if he had intentionally, illegally, purposefully, and with prior planning and malicious intent killed each victim, he responded affirmatively to all inquiries.

By accepting the plea bargain, Kohberger relinquishes the option to challenge the verdict or request a less severe prison term, as stated by Hippler.

Despite the objections from both the Goncalves and Kernodle families, who criticized the plea deal that removed the possibility of capital punishment, Thomas Kohberger was formally sentenced to spend the rest of his life in prison on July 23, 2025.

Judge Hippler ordered Kohberger to spend four life sentences in prison, served one after another, with no chance for parole for each murder charge. Each sentence also comes with a $50,000 fine and a $5,000 payment to the families of the victims. For the burglary charge, he was given 10 years in prison and fined $50,000.

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2025-07-25 03:48